Protection
by nambnb
Summary: Answering a prompt about Ren learning the hard way that he can't protect Aoba like he did within Rhyme battles, which upsets him. - warning: rape - spoiler alert for Ren's good ending, including re:connect.
1. Chapter 1

They were close to the Northern district of Midorijima. It was one of those streets most people would avoid to set foot into because of how rundown everything was and due to the fact that there were junkies, thugs and occasionally even yakuza lurking in its dark corners and you never knew what was going to happen to you if you met one. Nobody around here cared what was done to other people here as long as it didn't concern themselves. Scream and cry all you want, nobody was going to help you or even cared for your corpse if you were dumb enough to enter this street full of garbage - junk and people respectively - in the first place. It wasn't a place where Ren or Aoba were meant to be and they didn't choose to come here out of their own free will either.

* * *

Earlier that day, they had run into trouble closer to the center of the Old Resident District on the busiest street in the Southern district, where they were just looking for new clothes for Ren to buy. Due to the mass of people there it was kind of a paradise for thieves who had no trouble disguising their acts when taking one's wallet out of one's pocket. Lots of people in the old parts of Midorijima still prefered hard money over making cashless payments with their coils so nearly every pocket was groped for money. And this time it was Aoba's turn to have a foreign hand inside of his jacket's pocket while looking at one of the shop windows with Ren. But the guy had bad luck since everything Aoba had in his pockets today were some sweets and pieces of fluff, plus Ren noticed him while he searched Aoba's pockets, even though he had been as careful as ever.

The usually gentle expression on Ren's face darkened immediately and he instinctively hit the guy's face with his elbow in a protective gesture before even Aoba took notice of Ren's movement.

"Ren...?", Aoba wondered after he heard a noise behind himself and turned his head just when the thief hit the ground hard, holding his bleeding nose and screaming in pain. "Ren, what happ-?!"

Before he could even ask anything, Ren grabbed Aoba by the arm and dragged him away, disappearing into the crowd. Ren didn't stop running before he was absolutely sure that they were not followed by the man he had just struck down. At the same time Aoba freed his arm from Rens clutch and barked at him in confusion.

"Ren, what the hell happened just now? Why did you hit that guy and why did we run around like crazy?"

Ren had trouble catching is breath, his body still not accustomed to too much exercise and he flinched a little at Aoba's angry tone even though he had meant well in acting the way he had.

"I am sorry, Aoba, but this man was a thief. He was rummaging in your pockets while you weren't looking."

"Eh?!", Aoba clearly hadn't noticed a thing and stood there baffled, his eyes shifting away from Ren while his mind tried to recall the scene. "He was...? And so you did...?"  
Aoba absentmindedly checked his pockets before he remembered that there hadn't anything of importance been in them in the first place today. His gaze turned back to Ren with his brows furrowed in worry.  
"I'm sorry for shouting at you, Ren, I just... couldn't take the whole picture in earlier."

Ren gave Aoba a reassuring smile. He was just glad that he had been able to protect Aoba. But his beloved person still had a frown on his face.  
"Aoba? Is something wrong?"

Aoba seemed to ponder whether he should tell Ren his thoughts or not but decided to do so in the end.  
"You know, I am thankful that you helped me but you didn't have to go so far as to hit that guy so hard that he would bleed. I can imagine his nose could have been broken from the impact and that's kinda over the top for just checking someone else's pockets for money."

Ren looked a bit perplexed at Aoba's remark. Was what he had done wrong then? But wasn't a thief considered a bad guy?  
"...I shouldn't have intervened?"

He made the impression of a scolded puppy and Aoba instantly regretted making him feel this way and reached up to ruffle his hair to lighten the mood.  
"No, I'm glad you did, you just overdid it, silly."  
Aoba added a kiss to Ren's forehead and gave him an impish grin.  
"Let's get back now, shall we? We still haven't found what we were looking for earlier."

Aoba took Ren by the hand and they started to walk towards Southern District again, but just as they took the last corner before entering the overall busy street of the shopping mile again, they were stopped by a group of people clearly belonging into the thuggish type category. Behind the group a nasally shrieking voice could be heard.

"That's them! The guy who hit me and the blue jacket guy!" It was the man Ren had sent flying earlier, pointing at them with one hand while holing some cloth to his bleeding face with the other one.

"So you are the guys who broke our friend's nose and knocked out his teeth, huh?"

Teeth, too, huh? How hard had Ren punched the guy exactly?

Aoba heard himself think that while he looked at Ren out of the corners of his eyes before continuing the headcount of the group of thugs and calculating whether they would be able to fight their way through them or if there was the chance to run away yet. Just as Aoba was about to try for the latter option he heard the sound of footsteps behind them as well. They were surrounded by half a dozen people now and the chances of getting out of this situation unharmed hit rockbottom. So they had to fight their way through, huh? It had been a while for Aoba to get into a fight with somebody but with Ren covering his back he felt strangely sure of winning even in this situation.

"Aoba, instructions."

He heard Ren speak those words like they were about to fight in a Rhyme Field, probably a force of habit of his former Allmate consciousness, but it wasn't like Aoba could just give him an order and expect Ren to blow their enemies away like in the game. This was reality after all.

"No limitations, Ren. Fight until they're all down or you see an opening for running away."  
That was all Aoba could give Ren now while stealing himself for what was about to come.

"Understood.", was the last thing Aoba had heard from Ren before countless fists started flying at them.

* * *

They had lost the fight.  
Of course they had lost it.  
It had been an unfair fight from the beginning and even though Ren was able to land some good hits and Aoba was dealing kicks for his life they were still outnumbered considerably in the end.

Ren was still in his last phase of rehabilitation after the whole incident with Toue and accustoming his soul to Sei's body. He was not used to long-lasting moving around yet, tiring too easily from moving too much. And fighting in an open street was a novelty for his human form. Sei's body had always been fragile and even after remodeling itself somewhat to adapt to Ren's soul and Ren going through rehab and a slight bit of muscle training he was not stronger as an average person, rather a bit weaker stamina-wise.  
In his online mode Ren might have been a fighting machine but as a human it was harder to land hits, even more so good ones against people who did nothing but fight all day long. And it was hard to concentrate on more than one enemy at the same time for him. If he tried to hit the guy infront of him, a punch came from the side or his back. In the end Ren was kicked in the knee and his stomach, unable to get up again fast enough and being surrounded by too many people.

The only thing on his mind had been to protect Aoba the whole time. He knew Aoba could handle a fight as he had proven to be able to in the past, but they just were too many and Aoba was a scrawny guy, not some brawny thug like the men hitting them with their fists. After he was thrown to the ground he heard a choking sound from Aboa and the words "Ah, he keeled over." coming from one of the strong-armed men. Ren was infuriated and wanted to kill the guy who had hurt Aoba, but the second he didn't cover himself properly, a kick to his face made him black out.

* * *

After he finally came to again Ren's head hurt like nothing he had ever experienced before. His whole body shook with pain and he was black and blue all over. Trying to grasp his situation he tried to look around but immediatley noticed that he was fixated by a hand on top of his head and lay there flat on his belly with his left cheek digging into dirt and his hands tied together behind his back. There was an unfamiliar weight on top of his body, too. The guy holding his face in place must have been sitting on his lower back as well. Aside from that there were a pair of boots in his field of view, probably belonging to another man. Just as he was trying to stir he heard the booted man shout over to another group.

"Hey! Hurry up! We want a turn, too!" There was just a bunch of answering shouts from a few meters across them, but Ren shivered by another sound he was hearing. There was a sound of gasping and gulped down cries and the voice they belonged to was so familiar to Ren that he would be able to pick out the person it belonged to amongst a hundred people - it was Aoba's voice.

"Aoba!"  
A jolt of fear blazed through Ren's body and he frantically tried to turn his head in the direction of Aoba's cries. He just had to know what they were doing to him. He had to know!

"Hey, stop squirming, you runt! Or do you want to make me angry?", was the immediate reply of the guy sitting on top of him, followed by him ramming a knife in the ground right next to Ren's face. Ren could see his distorted image in the knife's sharp blade, but thinking about Aoba he didn't care what would happen to himself.  
Trying to muster all the strength he could he strained himself into turning his head to look ahead of him.  
The booted man next to him smirked and scoffed: "Oi, just let him see what's happening over there with his friend, it's more entertaining that way."  
Ren heard the other guy click his tongue but his head was released and he was finally able to look over to Aoba.

He immediately wished he hadn't looked, though.

Over there was Aoba, half stripped and down to his hands and knees. He was surrounded by four guys who seemed to take turns in violating him. One guy had grabbed Aoba by his hair hard enough to make him cry and forced him to give him head while another man mercilessly drove his cock in and outside of Aoba's ass with some blood trickling down Aoba's thighs. The two others urged Aoba to give them a handjob or rubbed their cock against his face respectively. All the while the group of men sneered at and insulted Aoba to their heart's content, enjoying themselves. It was a gruesome sight for Ren and it must have felt beyond terrible for Aoba

Ren began to shiver with rage and snarled like a beast as he had taken in the scene, immediately gaining Aoba's attention and recognizing how his eyes widened in fear and shame to be seen doing this sort of thing by Ren. Ren got even more furious at the thought that these guys had made Aoba react that way and tried to get up again before receiving another hard punch in the face by the man sitting on top of him and being told to shut the fuck up.  
Ren could taste blood in his mouth and felt his body ache from being beaten up earlier, but more than anything a blind fury took hold of him. He didn't care if he was hit even more, he didn't care if he was about to die in the act as long as he could save Aoba from this situation.

Something snapped inside of him and an unknown strength took hold of Ren while his body pumped out adrenaline like crazy. Roaring like a wild animal he forced his body off the ground, rolled over and headbutted the guy who had sat on him, making him fall unconscious in the struggle. The booted man next to them was about to kick him when Ren got to his knees and bit the guy's inner thigh as hard as he could, sinking in his canine teeth through fabric and skin until he hasted blood. The man shrieked in pain being bitten in a sensitive area and tried to get rid of Ren by hitting his head but Ren could muster enough strength in his legs by then to lurch forward and hit the other guy in the stomach using his head again, the impact strong enough to make him topple over as well. Finally completely back on his feet Ren didn't give the man a chance to get up again and stomped down on the other's crotch, forcing him to black out, too.

They would pay! They would pay! They would pay for doing this to Aoba!

Ren seethed with anger and was literally foaming with rage with some spit and blood gushing from his mouth as he clenched his teeth and growled like a mad dog launching head-on into the group of guys violating Aoba.

Ren having drawn the attention of his captors and being able to free himself proved to be a chance for Aoba to counterattack as well and he started with the asshole that had his weakest part exposed to him first by biting down the cock in his mouth hard enough to draw blood and an ear-splitting scream escaped the man's throat. He was about to hit Aoba with his fist but Aoba was resolved to bite this fuckers cock off if he had to and bit down evern harder until the man couldn't take the intense pain anymore and doubled over onto the floor. The sudden resistence of their formally obedient sex toy had downed the reaction time of the guy behind Aoba and he was elbowed into the stomach hard enough so Aoba could break free from his clutches, too. Four down, two still standing was the score and Ren had finally closed the distance between them and sent the next guy flying by ramming into him like a battering ram. The last one of the thugs even lost his nerves now after seeing Ren's state and fled the scene screaming like a girl.

Ren still panted with rage and was close to try killing the guys laying sprawled over the place for touching Aoba when his beloved reached out a hand and touched his knee softly.

"Ren... let's get out of here...!"

Aoba's voice was hoarse and his face and body looked equally beaten as he knelt there, still half undressed and trying to catch his breath. It hurt Ren to watch his most important person like this and he wanted nothing more than to undo all the things that had been done to Aoba, but he couldn't. He couldn't even embrace him and carry him away in his current state. All he could do was to swallow down his anger and nod frantically at Aoba. They had to leave this place as soon as possible. Due to the pain in his lower half Aoba had trouble getting up at first and Ren tried to support him, but his hands were still tightly bound behind his back. Unable to speak in view of the whole situation he let out a heartbreaking whimper and looked helplessly at Aoba.

Aoba raised his head and seemed to notice Ren's distraught face only then before reaching out a hand and weakly caressing Ren's cheek.

"Don't worry, Ren, we'll go home now."

Why was he reassuring him now? Wasn't Aoba the one suffering the most? And wasn't it Ren's fault that this whole thing happened just because he had went to far with the thief earlier? Wasn't it all his fault? How could Aoba act like that now? How could...  
No, wait, this wasn't the time for self-loathing now. They were still not safely out of this situation, they had to leave first. Just as Ren was about to ask Aoba to do something about his bonds Aoba was already unfastening the belt that was used to tie his arms together and finally set him free. The first thing Ren did was to embrace Aoba even though he knew they had to escape as fast as possible. He just had to make sure Aoba was alright.

"Ouch, not... so hard, Ren... it hurts...!", Aoba protested to the arms wound around him too tightly and Ren immediately let go of him while blurting out an apology.  
He hadn't meant to hurt Aoba, even though he should have known from his battered state that it was going to hurt to touch him, however softly he would try to do it. His mind was just too jumbled up from the whole situation and his body still rushed from the adrenaline. It was just too much.

By now Aoba had roughly put his clothes back in order including pulling his jeans and underwear up. He motioned for Ren to bent down and let him help him get back on his feet, staggering a bit at first, but being able to walk by holding on to Ren.  
There was a chance that they would run into more of these guys as they made their way back but thankfully nobody directly crossed their path and when they saw someone suspicious once, there were enough backstreets to temporarily hide in, but it wasn't necessary for the most part on their way back to the East district where Aoba lived.

* * *

\- to be continued -


	2. Chapter 2

Granny wasn't home yet it seemed and Aoba was kind of thankful for that since he didn't want to tell anybody about the incident right now. He let Ren take him to the bathroom, but the closer they got the worse the feeling in Aoba's gut became and so the first thing he did was to run over to the toilet and vomit in front of a still very worried Ren. Aoba heaved and choked, and as soon the first wave of vomit had wrung itself from his stomach he even went so far as to put his fingers into his throat to keep retching until all that came out consisted of gastric juices.

"Aoba!"

Ren tried to intervene, but Aoba glared at him behind clenched teeth and growled instead.  
"One of these fuckers came inside of my mouth and forced me to swallow, I want everything of it out, down to the last drop of it!"  
Ren was on the verge of tears seeing his beloved person like that and didn't know what to do other than trying to hold Aoba's hair away from the whole mess in the toilet while the other kept wringing his mouth of fluids until nothing was left that could be spat out anymore. Afterwards a bit of shame came creeping in as Aoba realised Ren had watched him the whole time, so he looked away as he stroked the hair Ren had been holding behind his ear and added in a lowered voice: "Sorry for the display, Ren."

Then Aoba walked over to the sink while still limping slightly and rinsed his mouth thoroughly, followed by brushing his teeth and tongue forcefully and nearly vomiting again. Ren tried to calm him down by rubbing Aoba's back while tears had begun running down his face silently. He didn't know what to say or do right now and a quiet, dog-like whimper escaped his throat. The only thing he was able to do seemed to be watching out for Aoba not to topple over after pushing his body's limits so far.

Aoba heard Ren sniffing behind him and turned around to see the piteous condition his companion was in, seeming to recognize it properly for the first time now. Aside from being beaten black and blue and having scratch wounds on his face and arms Ren's right eyebrow had a small cut and his lips were cracked with a line of dried blood caked to his mouth. Not to mention that his eyes were soaked in tears spilling out of him like a flood, which he tried to hold back unsuccessfully with clenched teeth.  
Aoba cupped Ren's face with both hands, wiped away some of the tears with his thumbs and brought their foreheads together.

"I'm sorry Ren, I'm so sorry this happened to you."

"Don't apologize...!"  
Why had Aoba felt the need to apologize in the first place? This wasn't his fault at all! It was Ren's fault, he was sure of it. He had overreacted and the result had been that Aoba was hurt terribly. He would feel better if he was in his stead, or at least yelled at or punished as opposed to being pitied right now. He felt sick, his stomach aching from more than just the beating he had taken. He felt utterly powerless, angry and sad at the same time. He hadn't been able to protect Aoba and this was the result. It hurt so much inside of him.  
"It's all my fault! Because of me all these bad things happened to Aob-ah!"

"Not. Another. Word."  
Aoba ruffled Ren's hair in a painful way, irritating the skin on his head by the rough treatment, but he soon stopped again and glared at him from below.  
"Those assholes picked a fight first and you did all you could to help me, so don't you dare say something like that, Ren!"

Ren still could not understand Aoba's point of view of the situation. But before he could sort out his feelings enough to form another sentence, Aoba had freed him from his grasp and and opened the door to the room with the shower and bathtub in it, leaving the door open like a sign for Ren to follow him further, so Ren obediently complied with the unspoken order and walked in after Aoba.

On his way to the shower Aoba dropped his clothes, not caring where they landed or if they were going to get wet by the water pouring from the shower he turned on as soon as he had reached it. Ren scooped up the scattered clothes and put them in the laundry basket outside of the shower room, all the while keeping an eye on Aoba in fear that his knees might give out. But Aoba stood there dead still, his gaze fixed to an undetermined point of the room. Ren wondered whether it would be better to leave Aoba alone after all, but as soon as he thought this, Aoba called out to him.

"Ren, come over here", the command sounded powerless but Aoba added some warmth to the end of his sentence as he looked over to Ren, "please..."

Ren approached Aoba slowly and was completely unprepared for the other to hug him tightly. Pain flared through his batted body, but he tried to endure it for Aoba's sake. If this was going to help him than Ren was more than willing to let him hug him however tightly he wanted to. A sniveling noise reached Ren's ears and he looked down, but couldn't see Aoba's face since he had turned it away from him.

"Aoba...!"  
Ren's voice sounded weakly and Aoba turned to look at him with water from the shower and tears streaming down his face.

"Please, help me wash this stench off my body. I don't want any trace of them left on me...!"

Ren's eyes widened at the devastated display in front of his eyes and exhaled through clenched teeth.  
"Gh...!"  
It was hard to speak right now since Ren felt a building lump in his throat, but he managed to bring out two words at least.  
"Of course."

Ren took some soap sitting on a protrusion next to the bathtub and began to foam up a washcloth he had grabbed from a towel rail next to the soap. As he did so he recognized Aoba tugging at his clothes.

"Undress, too...?"  
Aoba looked up to him uncertainly but before he could utter another word Ren already had stripped off his shirt and pants including his underwear and stood in front of him equally nude. Aoba smiled at him like to thank him but his view immediately darkened again as he spotted the traces of rough treatment Ren had to endure before. His body was covered in bruises and his arms showed signs of the belt that had been used to tie him up. Aoba traced the wounds lightly with his fingertips and then opened his mouth to say something, but cut himself off and closed his lips again.

Ren wordlessly began to carefully sponge down Aoba's body. He started at Aoba's throat and neck, glided over to his shoulders and washed his upper body down to his navel before cleaning his arms one after the other. Then he washed Aoba's hands, lightly holding Aoba by his wrist and gently rubbed over his palm, thumb and each finger individually. After he was done Ren's hand slid from Aoba's wrist to the tips of his fingers and Aoba lightly grabbed Ren's hand, entwining their fingers for a bit before letting go again. When Ren looked at Aoba he smiled back sadly and Ren broke their eye contact again to give Aoba's other hand the same treatment. When he was done he pondered about where he would be allowed to wash his lover's lower body as well and if he even wanted to be touched there right now at all. As if guessing his thoughts, Aoba opened his mouth and told him not to mind that place. Ren obeyed Aoba's wish and he bent down a bit to continue on with his legs, wiping away the rest of the blood that hadn't already been washed away by the continuous rain of water pouring down on them from the shower head. He felt a sudden movement and at first assumed the worst, meaning Aoba hurting or falling over, but he only reached for a bottle of shampoo to wash his hair as well. Under different circumstances washing Aoba probably would have felt like a sacred or even erotic act to Ren, but right now he only hoped that he could help Aoba freeing himself from the things he had to endure earlier, if that was even possible right now, concerning how fresh the memories and wounds on his body were.

Reaching Aoba's feet Ren was told to stop and thanked for his help. When he righted himself up again, Aoba gave his black and blue marks a worried look again and without a word began to kiss them, flustering Ren in the process.  
"A-Aoba...!"  
Ren was unsure how to take Aoba's actions but the tender way Aoba's lips brushed over his bruised body looked like Aoba was trying to kiss away his pain, giving back some of the care Ren had handled him with while washing him before. Ren lightly brushed over Aoba's hair after he had reached Ren's belly, prompting Aoba to look up to him while Ren smiled.  
"It's all good, Aoba. It will heal, don't worry about me."

Aoba gave a small smile back and got up non his feet again while telling Ren he should wash himself now properly, too.  
"Ah, but please turn around while doing so, Ren. There is still a place I have to take care of and I don't want you to see me doing it."

Aoba said those words without looking Ren in the eye and Ren disliked the idea to take his eyes off of Aoba, but gave in after sighing deeply and turned around. He could guess what Aoba meant when he told him there was something left. It could only be the place he hadn't allowed him to wash previously: his lower body.

Ren decided to respect Aoba's wish not to look and tried to concentrate on washing his own body off the dirt and the blood on his face. The hot water stinged in his open wounds even though they were small, but overall the heat felt good on his body, relaxing his muscles bit by bit. Just as he was about to let out a slightly relieved sigh he heard Aoba groan behind him. He was only barely able to resist the urge to turn around instantly to take a look, since Aoba had wished for him no to see him doing whatever he was doing right now. But listening to the continued, if suppressed, huffs and remarks of pain of Aoba's voice was too much for him and he gradually turned around to see what Aoba was doing.  
He had guessed right earlier, Aoba indeed tried to rid himself of the impression left on him by the man entering him earlier. He stood there, facing the tiles near the shower supporting himself with one hand against the wall and clenched his teeth while having two fingers up his ass with a bit of soap dripping out of his entrance.

Did he try to clean his insides?  
It seemed to hurt and it probably did, judging from the fact that he had bled from his abdominal area earlier. Remembering the scene spurred newly gained hatred for their attackers and self-loathing in Ren, but most of all he just felt sad that Aoba had to suffer like this now.  
"Aoba..."  
He couldn't stop himself from calling his name in a faint whisper and Aoba turned his head to look at him, his cheeks flushing right away.

"Oi, Ren, I told you not to look!"  
He appeared to be flustered and ashamed, but if he really didn't want Ren to know what he was doing why hadn't he ordered him to leave the room before? Maybe deep down inside of him Aoba wished for Ren to know that he was 'clean' down there again, so Ren wouldn't be deterred to continue their relationship as lovers. It was a mystery to Ren why Aoba might be even thinking something like that. He would never leave him ever and if Aoba felt like he wasn't his anymore he would make him his again.

"Eh? Ren?!"

Before he even knew he was doing it, Ren had already gotten on his knees and approached Aoba from behind, gently guiding Aoba's hand and fingers away from his entrance and grabbing Aoba's hips to pull them towards his face.

"Ren?! Ah-! Ugh...!"

Aoba squealed in surprise and instantly tried to squirm out of Ren's hold when he felt a wet tongue entering him, but Ren held him steadily, not caring if he protested. If Aoba wanted his insides to be cleaned out, Ren would help him with that as well. He would take back what was his and make it alright again.

"Ren, don't...! Ah...!"  
Aoba still protested, but it was weakening by the minute.

Ren took his time, moving his tongue slowly and thoroughly inside of him. It tasted kind of bitter and soapy, since Aoba had just tried to clean himself with his foamed up fingers, but other than that it tasted a little like iron. The man really had torn Aoba's inner walls like that. It made Ren angry to think about it. This other guy had put his dirty cock inside of his precious Aoba and hurt him and... Did he come inside of him, too? It was hard to tell by looking from the outside and even harder by tasting with the soap and blood mixing together to an unpleasant flavour. If there was still cum of a stranger inside of Aoba, Ren wanted to get it all out and tried to reach even deeper with his tongue.

"A-aaah! No, Ren! Stop i-ah!"  
Aoba shivered under Ren's stimulation. It was so embarrassing to have Ren's tongue at a place like that and it hurt when he touched his aching insides, plus Aoba felt ashamed enough to sink right into the floor at the same time. And the most troublesome thing of all was that he felt a tingling sensation down his loins, starting to get him half-hard. Right when he thought he couldn't stand it any longer, Ren suddenly pulled his tongue out and voiced a question.

"Aoba. Did...", Aoba could hear Ren drawing breath through his teeth before he finished the question, "Did this man come inside of you?"

"No!"  
Aoba's answer was quick like a shot and Ren gave a baffled look. Their eyes met and Aoba's face was red as a beet, but he took a breath and elaborated his answer.  
"No, he didn't come inside of me. You weren't out of it for that long after I woke up myself, Ren. They just surrounded me the minute I opened my eyes and dragged me away from you, saying something about how I looked cute like a girl or whatever and when I wanted to escape from their groping hands they threatened to slit your throat if I misbehaved, so..."

Ren felt a sting in his heart and his chest became heavy again, making it hard do breath.

Aoba hadn't finished speaking yet, though, and he he sputtered with a shivering voice like he couldn't hold back the words anymore.  
"The moment I saw them threatening you I decided whatever they were going to do to me was nothing compared to loosing you, so... I obeyed them and they forced me down on my hands and knees, shoving their cocks in my face and told me to suck them off. One of them... came in my mouth and then another just entered me. It hurt like hell, but I couldn't scream out since my mouth was already full with another dick and..."  
Aoba repressed the newly surfacing urge to gag after the words had gushed out of his mouth in one go and the memories resurfaced together with it. He swallowed hard before continuing further, finally answering Ren's initial question.  
"But the guy behind me didn't come inside of me yet, because right after that you woke up and saved me, Ren."

"I... saved you...?"

He had saved Aoba?  
Had he really?  
Hadn't he been too late already?  
Ren knelt there, staring at the floor and it was hard to tell whether the water running down his face were just droplets of water from the shower or his tears.

Aoba turned around and crouched down to cup Ren's face with both hands.  
"Yes, Ren, you saved me. If you hadn't freed yourself then and knocked those bastards out I wouldn't have had a chance to fight back either. I wouldn't have been able to pull this off on my own. Thank you Ren and sorry for dragging you into this mess."  
Aoba put their foreheads together lightly, the tender gesture between them speaking of trust and gratitude towards the other.

Ren furrowed his brows and his breath quivered while tears began to form in the corner of his eyes and a whimper escaped his lips.  
"Aoba... Aoba...! Aoba."  
Cupping Aoba's face, Ren rubbed his forehead against Aoba's and sniffed while the tears tumbled down his cheeks.  
"If I hadn't hit that man when he tried to rob you, he wouldn't have teamed up with the others and then you wouldn't have been hurt in the first place...!"

"Ren.", Aoba put his hands on top of Ren's and looked at him sternly, "Don't say that. It wasn't your fault that this guy was a thief and you couldn't have known that he was a sore loser who calls his friends after having failed to get money out of me. And it's not your fault what these guys did to me either, it was their decision. You cannot blame yourself for other people's actions, Ren."  
Aoba kissed him lovingly on the mouth before proceeding to kiss away the tears off his skin.  
"You tried your best to help me, Ren. I would never criticize you because of that. Plus I love you, Ren, more than anything. So please stop blaming yourself."

Ren gasped and kissed Aoba in a desperate way, proceeding to lick Aoba's lips rather than kissing them, even though their lips brushed against each other every few times. Standing skin to skin next to each other, the only sounds audible were the water spray from the shower head and their uneven breathing between kisses. Then Aoba embraced Ren's neck and grinded their hips against each other in a suggestive way before putting on the most assertive face he could muster as he spoke to Ren in a low voice.  
"I want you, Ren."

Ren swallowed hard before gripping Aoba's hips and answered him with the same motion while his hands caressed Aoba's butt cheeks. Trailing down to Aoba's entrance, Ren's hands stopped as he remembered that Aoba was hurt down there and he gritted his teeth.

"Ren?", Aoba was insecure due to Ren's hesitation, but before he could ask any further, Ren guided Aoba to lay on his lower back and made him spread his legs before he started to lick Aoba's half-hard dick.  
"Uwah! Wa-Wait a moment-Ah! Ren...!"

Ren had already taken the whole thing into his mouth and went down on him lovingly, but Aoba fidgeted and tried to shove Ren's head off of himself.  
"No, wait, this-Ah! Stop it!"  
Honestly, it felt good when Ren's tongue glided up and down his hot flesh or he sucked at him, even when his canine teeth sometimes lightly brushed his skin, but Aoba wanted to feel good together rather than having all the fun by himself, so he tugged at Ren's hair until he let go.

Ren looked up to him with a crestfallen expression on his face.  
"You don't like it?"

"That's not it. It's just... This way it's only me feeling good, so... I don't want you to do this."  
Aoba tried to avoid Ren's gaze on him while pondering what to do. He wanted to be taken by Ren to overwrite the memories of all the things that had happened, but on the other hand the prospect of being hurt down there again was not something he was very fond of. They could go with foreplay techniques just fine if it just concerned making the other one come but Aoba wanted to feel Ren as closely as possible while they made each other feel good. If it was impossible to become one with Ren because it would hurt, Aoba was still inclined to try ignoring the pain as long as it would mean being connected to Ren during the act.

Ren noticed the deep furrow that had begun to form between Aoba's brows while he was lost in thought and he gave his forehead a kiss, then his nose and his cheekbones until he arrived at Aoba's mouth again and gave his lips a tender lick before kissing him again.

Aoba sighed a breath of relief and looked into Ren's eyes while his fingers combed through Ren's hair.  
"I think I know a method for both of us to enjoy each other at the same time. I just don't know if it'll feel good enough for you, Ren."

Ren was perplexed about those words and wanted to say that they did not have to do it by all means, but Aoba slowly sat up and turned around on his knees, his back meeting Ren's chest now and his hand sliding up Ren's thighs behind himself suggestively.  
"You know... You can put this", he slid his hand downwards to grab Ren's erection and guided it to the gap between his legs, "here as well and I'll try to make you feel good that way." Aoba pressed his thighs together and moved slightly to show Ren how this was supposed to work and Ren gasped at the sensation of his dick rubbing against Aoba's legs and brushing against Aoba's own member from below in the process, coaxing a small sound out of Aoba's lips.  
"What... do you think? Is this... any good?"

Aoba looked up to Ren bashfully and Ren felt himself harden even further at the display. Instead of answering him with words he grabbed Aoba's face and kissed him feverishly, entwining their tongues for a hot dance in their mouths and put his other hand to work on Aoba's nipple, kneading it to a hard pebble. Aoba gasped between kisses and squirmed in Ren's hold but then started to move his hips once again to make Ren feel good by creating more friction between his legs - the water running down his wet thighs serving as a substitute lubricant. Feeling the need to add to the pleasure, Aoba's hand grabbed for his own cock and stroked it while Ren's dick rubbed against his own during thrusts simultaneously.

"Ren...! Ah! Ren!"

"Aoba."

They both had trouble breathing but were equally unwilling to let go of each other's mouths and sucked at their tongues and lips while moving their hips together. When a deep moan forced Ren to finally let go of Aoba's lips, he began to lick his ear instead, his tongue exploring every curve of his auricle and his teeth nibbling on his earlobe.  
Aoba gasped and moaned and Ren couldn't stop himself from wanting to hear his pleasured sounds even more. Even if he was just breathing out it was so hot it nearly drove him crazy and it sent a tingling feeling through his body that made him longing for more and more of those pretty little sounds from Aoba's throat. His caressing lips moved down Aoba's throat and collarbone until he playfully bit into his shoulder, making Aoba jolt up with a high-pitched groan.

"Ren...!"

Aoba indulged in the tingling sensations all over his body and moved his hand harder and faster, but tried to ensure Ren felt equally good by keeping his thighs as close as possible. He heard him suppressing a moan and felt Ren biting harder into his shoulder with a slight pain running through his body. But it was overshadowed by lust and the certainty that Ren wouldn't go as far as to actually hurt Aoba willingly.  
Having noticed he had accidently gone far enough to leave bite marks, Ren wordlessly licked Aoba's shoulder in apology. Then his hand grabbed Aoba's to guide it away from his dick so Ren could stroke Aoba's member instead while his lover was left only with focusing on contracting the muscles in his upper legs to put enough pressure on Ren's cock, while Ren moved between his thighs. Aoba didn't know where to put his free hand now, though, so he ended up grabbing behind himself and clawed at Ren's butt cheeks in an attempt to draw him closer. His knees hurt while Ren thrust in him on the hard bathroom tiles no the floor, but he didn't care, he only wanted to reach that feeling of total bliss he was on the verge of grasping.

"Ren...! Ren, I'm about to...!"

"Me too.", Ren breathed hotly into Aoba's ear and squinted his eyes shut as he inhaled Aoba's scent over his wet hair and the spray of water around them, concentrating on feeling his lover's body as he embraced him with one hand and kept on massaging his cock hard with the other.

Aoba felt his orgasm draw nearer with Ren so close behind his back and him caressing his most sensitive parts the way he did, even if it was so rough it almost hurt him now. It was so warm in Ren's embrace, no it was hot, almost unbearably so, but there was simply no escape from it. The only way to finally get rid of all this tension was to come, but Aoba felt that he was driven over the edge already, floating on the moment of sexual release and let himself go, closing his eyes while moaning Ren's name.

Ren climaxed only a few seconds after Aoba enjoyed his orgasm and finally had reached that peak of emotions overwhelming everything else, his breath being stuck in his throat.

* * *

Aoba came down from his zenith of pleasure first and faintly recognized Ren's cum spattered between his thighs and dripping down his legs. Had this been fluid from one of his assailants from earlier, he would have been sure to feel horrible at the sight, but since it was Ren's it felt oddly good to have it sprayed all over his skin like that. He was the only person Aoba would allow, or even enjoy, dirtying him that way and before he knew he was doing it, he already turned his head halfway around to catch Ren's lips as if to reward him for his efforts. Ren was still a little out of it but enjoyed the lips pressed against his and the lazy tongue licking the inside of his mouth. Ren's slightly dazed, amber eyes met Aoba's satisfied, light brown gaze and they enjoyed a few more, soft kisses before finally separating their mouths from each other again.

Aoba's voice was a little hoarse, but he smiled contentedly when he reached behind Ren's head to lightly stroke his hair and murmured close to his ear: "I love you, Ren."

"I love you, too.", Ren had barely let a heartbeat pass before he had already answered Aoba's statement with his own and nuzzled his forehead before planting a few more, light kisses on Aoba's face.

Sounds like the water still streaming out of the shower head behind them and an annoying feeling of pain in their knees from rubbing against the hard tiles on the floor made their way into their consciousness now, and they awkwardly disentangle their bodies from each other. Aoba cleaned his thighs from Ren's semen and Ren shampooed his own hair after having forgotten about it during the act of washing Aoba's body before. Then they headed out of the bathroom, dried themselves as best as possible and made their way up to Aoba's room. That was, only for Aoba to get out of the room a few seconds later to collect the first aid kit from the bathroom for Ren, whose face was still hurting just by looking at it.  
Of course he was caught in the act of carrying the item towards his room by Tae, who chose this exact moment to return home. Aoba had never been good at lying, even less so in the face of his grandmother, but he didn't want to tell her the whole truth, so he told her that Ren and him had gotten into a brawl in the backstreets of Midorijima while choosing the wrong shortcut to get from A to B. Judging by Tae's grumbling face she had her doubts that Aoba wasn't trying to hide half of the story from her, but decided to take it to be true for now. A worried Tae was not to be underestimated, though, so she called both of her reckless grandsons to the kitchen to patch them up herself - probably to get a look on their condition first hand - all the while muttering how happy they could be to have gotten out of it alive and that they should really watch out for themselves some more and not worry her like that. Aoba and Ren endured her rant while being doctored and tried to more or less grin and bear it.

* * *

The following day, Aoba had trouble leaving his home to go to work, even though he had been able to make it to the frontdoor just fine. But the prospect of actually setting foot outside his home paralyzed him right in the act of opening the door. Ren, who had just come to say good-bye to Aoba before he would head out, put a hand on top of Aoba's on the doorhandle and wordlessly pulled it down together with him. Then he grabbed for Aoba's hand and accompanied him on his way to Heibon. Aoba seemed to be embarrassed about the whole situation, less because of the whole holding-hands-in-public-part, but because of the fact that he had worried Ren with his behaviour. But Ren assured him that if Aoba had just the faintest fear of being left alone and having to face a situation like the one from yesterday again, he would be there to watch out for him and to protect him from harm.  
The way he squeezed Aoba's hand as he had told him that, combined with the tense look on his face while they walked made Aoba realize that Ren was afraid of a repetition of events happening to them the day before, as well, but that he tried to be brave for his loved one. Aoba gave his hand a squeeze in return and smiled thankfully at Ren. Whatever might happen to them, at least they would face it together and be there to cover each other's back.

* * *

_[A/N: I am aware that I am probably not portraying the mental state of a rape victim correctly in this story and that the sole act of coping with intercourse right after being raped like that is very likely a thing of fiction. But since I wanted the count of words and the plot to be limited, I made the decision to write it the way you see it.]_


End file.
